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Page #4-MINUTES TRAFFIC MEETING-11/9/05 Ms. Welsh mentioned that the Council is working in a list of requests to the County regarding Delmar and that this request can be included and be part of “the whole package”. This way, the request would have more support than if it’s requested on a later time by itself. Ms. Schafer stated that a “left on left arrow only” turn may cause a delay for Delmar. Ms. Kolsky did not want to take into consideration traffic delays along Delmar. She said that traffic delay should not be considered. She stated that safety for pedestrians is more important. She asked Ms. Schafer how many times she has walked along Delmar. She encouraged people to walk but she understands that people don’t walk because it is not safe. Ms. Schafer responded that she does not walk very often but she does ride her bike with her family and that they are very aware of their surroundings all the time. She explained that streets are made for cars. Unnecessary delay results in higher motorist costs and significant fuel waste that is detrimental to the environment. Ms. Kolsky indicated that if streets are safe, people would walk more and fuel would be consumed in fewer proportions. Ms. Schafer mentioned that traffic signals can not be changed unless the warrants specified by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices are satisfied. The warrants are based in the number of vehicles, pedestrian activity, vehicular speeds, accident history, population of the city and number of traffic lanes. Ms. Kolsky asked if somebody should be hurt in order to take some action regarding this situation. Ms. Schafer said that accident frequency can be significantly increased at unwarranted signals. Regarding Midland, Ms. Schafer stated that it is not considered a residential street in the area north of Delmar. Midland is an arterial route even if it’s located in a residential area. More, when traffic signals are not warranted, the use of less adequate routes (in this case residential streets), may be encouraged in an attempt to avoid such signals. Ms. Kolsky noted that she wanted some support from the City in order to address the County but for her it is clear that the City officials are not supporting safety for th University City. She said that for the October 27 meeting, no commissioners attended. V:\WP51\Mariela-Projects\Traffic Commission\minutes\2005\Minutes 11-9-05.doc